Posts tagged flying-lab

At this year's Dragon*Con, we ran into Flying Lab Software's Russell Williams (CEO) and Kevin Maginn (PotBS Lead Designer) who had a lot to say about the design philosophy behind Pirates of the Burning Sea as well as the challenges of continuing to work on a live game. After its release in January...

For the people who attended SOE's Fan Faire this weekend, today is a day to relax and enjoy the company of good friends -- or in several cases, the day to travel back home. But if you want beauty and travel all at once, you have to admit Flying Lab's Pirates of the Burning Sea does an excellent jo...

If you were waiting for skirmishes to be added to Pirates of the Burning Sea, you may be out of luck, at least for awhile. In a recent announcement at SOE's Fan Faire this week, Flying Lab game designer Drew Clowerly stated that it's simply a matter of losing the developer who was working on that ...

Is ganking really such a bad thing? That's the question Isildur addresses in his latest Pirates of the Burning Sea dev blog, where he outlines how ganking evolved in the game -- and how it got out of control. "Ganking has a long and difficult history within our design and development process, so it...

Deep within the jungles, there is a fortress abandoned long ago. Surrounded by mystery, something is stirring within the crumbled walls of this once proud structure. It is a player, stuck in a door, and screaming for help! With your assistance, this certainly will not be the case. The new epic missi...

Pirates of the Burning Sea has plenty to offer in terms of destruction. Sailors can take down ports in group conquest missions or just harass traders around the Spanish Main. However, spending all day chasing after booty is no way to flaunt your PvP skills. After all, you can only sink so many tra...

Pirates of the Burning Sea has seen a few big changes since the game released. The latest addition to the fleet will be new pirate careers in patch 1.4. So what is coming up after buccaneers make their appearance on the high seas? A swabbing of the poop deck to be precise! All that combat and ship...

One might rightfully acuse the term "user generated content" of being a rather dry way to describe what is really a fascinating trend in media: the opportunity for "users" to contribute their own creations and have them incorporated into traditionally heavily produced "content." By nature interact...

The folks at Flying Lab have sent word that two brand new Pirate careers will soon be sailing along in Pirates of the Burning Sea. The Cutthroat and the Buccaneer are to be the nom de plumes of our swabbie friends. The Cutthroat should be familiar - it's the class you've been playing as a pirate all...

The Terra Nova site views virtual worlds and massively multiplayer gaming through the lens of academia. Don't hold that against them, though; the insights of commentators like Richard Bartle, Ren Reynolds, Edward Castronova, and Timothy Burke make for some darned interesting reading. This week Mr. B...

In his post-launch developer wrap-up, Flying Lab CEO and co-founder Russell Williams talks about how Pirates of the Burning Sea went from an idea to a game, and what they learned after it launched. Their great idea: kick-ass ship combat, PvP that affected the world, a robust economy and great stor...

Stephanie Walker was a gamer who had never expected to have to deal with a disability. She was 23 at the onset of her condition, a college student who also worked a full-time job. She liked to spend the little free time she had unwinding online. Initially resistant to the idea of playing EverQuest...

User generated content. Second Life is built on it. Other games are slowly taking up the banner as well and introducing the ideas of the players into their fold. Are we doing ourselves a favor, or are we starting to completely shoot ourselves in the foot? MMOCrunch brought up the point that users ...

The closure of many Pirates of the Burning Sea servers last week is regrettable, but not terribly surprising. In the Next Generation article exploring that event, CEO Russell Williams explains that the interdependence of their ambitious MMO's systems made them difficult to test. Veteran MMO develope...